Video: Bake-Your-Own Robots

Assemble-your-own robots are becoming pretty popular and easy these days, thanks to 3D printing and other home kits. Now researchers out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) -- one of the foremost institutions in robotics research -- have come up with a way to create robots that self-assemble when heated.

These baked robots are the work of MIT professor of computer science and electrical engineering Daniela Rus, director of the university's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), who also gave us soft robots that move very similarly to fish, robotic cubes that self assemble, and other 3D-printed, self-assembling robots. It’s no surprise she is at the head of yet another novel way to design robots that can put themselves together.

Before-and-after still photos from the video "An End-to-End Approach to Making Self-Folded 3D Surface Shapes by Uniform Heating" by a team of MIT researchers that has come up with a way to create robots that self-assemble when heated. The left image shows the self-folding sheet for a humanoid shape, while the right image shows the completed shape. (Source: MIT)

Rus said this latest research, begun about a year ago, was inspired by the idea of making robots more ubiquitous in the classroom and at home, especially as learning tools for children. “We are especially interested in education applications (e.g., rapidly creating robots that can be used as instruments in the classroom, one robot per child) and home applications,” she told Design News, in an email.

Rus and her team published two papers on their research showing the promise of printable robotic components that, when heated, automatically fold into prescribed 3D configurations.

In one paper, researchers outline a system that takes a digital design of a 3D shape -- such as a CAD file -- and generates the 2D patterns that would enable a piece of plastic to reproduce the design through self-assembly when heated.

The other paper explains how to build electrical components such as resistors, inductors, and capacitors from self-folding, laser-cut materials. The researchers also describe designs for sensors and actuators that enable the movements of the robots. The idea of using heat to spur the robots into action came about because “it is an easy process that is broadly available,” Rus told us.

To demonstrate the heating process, Rus and her team used an off-the-shelf toy invented in the 1970s, Shrinky Dinks -- a children's toy and activity kit comprising large flexible sheets that shrink to small hard plates when heated in an oven without altering their color or shape.

The next phase for the research, according to Rus, will be to integrate computation actuation and sensing into the process of developing the self-assembling baked robots.

Good point, AandY. While to make sophisticated, feature-rich robots is quite intensive, making simple robots--as evidenced by this story and a alot of the do-it-yourself kits and tools for kids out there--isn't hard for people to do anymore. To break down technology into its basic parts is the best way to simplify it. I think when people begin to understand how simple robots can be, there also will be less fear or nervousness associated with interacting with them.

Most of the times people tend to think that the invention and designing of a robot, is no walk in the park. Well, this can all change. Robotics sums up a lot of technical and creative details. Assembling your own robot is now pretty easy theses days one of the foremost institutions in robotics research -- have come up with a way to create robots that self- assemble when heated. This undergoes a process over which the robot parts self fold to a humanoid shape and at the end becomes a completed robot shape.

I think there kind of a red herring in this story, in that what was fabricated is a 3D object with parts that look like arms and legs, and therefore they have made a "robot." I think what they have made is at best a mannikin.

Good point, Zippy. I'd personally have to think on that for a moment. Perhaps some kind of heating method could be used in the manufacturing process to produce robotic parts. But I'm only grasping at straws. I really don't know. Perhaps some more of our engineering-minded readers can weigh in.

Good observation, Cabe. Indeed it is. That's pretty interesting you note that because I just wrote an article about a robotic building kit for kids that tries to appeal not only to their technical side but also their creative side, to round out their potential skills for future work. So maybe this type of thing is the future of robotic development.

Glad you enjoyed it, nicoleallenB. There are other kids that let mere mortals make robots, many of them aimed at kids but good for adults as well. Tinkerbots is another one. Here is a link to a story I did on it: http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=3607&doc_id=273240

Yes, it's quite amazing the progress Rus and her team are making with robots. They've been doing this research for quite some time and are some of the leading robot researchers. If anyone can achieve this type of thing, it's them!

This is a cool experiment and a challenging design problem, but I am struggling a bit with where it provides significant advantages in a manufacturing setting. Can anyone speculate on what could be the first significant product application of this technology?

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.